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Issue with M1 Upper Rotator Knob

Some customers have been reporting concerns with the M1 upper rotator knob. If the knob on the upper rotator breaks the knob will rotate freely. This is an apparent flaw in the design of the plastic that seems to apart from the inner metal portion when strong force is applied. We are making new knobs to solve the issue which may take up to 60 days to complete.
In the interim if your knob begins to become loose stop using it immediately. Remove the knob from the rotator by loosening the captive screw at the center of knob. As a temporary fix please request for a new knob (from the same batch) to allow use of M1 before the new batch is ready. Don't apply more tightening force than necessary to upper rotator into place. The positive stops at the upper rotator keep the rotator securely locked. Tighten the knob untill you feel an increase in friction should be enough.
If the knob becomes too loose and you can't remove it this will require a special tool to remove it. Please return to your reseller for servicing.

We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused. When the new knob is ready, we will send them to customers at no cost. We will also include a small enhancement (based on customer feedback) that will make the knob work more smoothly.

I used a special Plastic-Metal Glue. I took the knob apart. Roughened outside of Insert and inside of Knob, added a thin amount of glue to these surfaces and re fixed the Insert and the Knob. I let it dry for one day before I re used it on the Upper Rotator. This would be my first try when a knob comes loose before the new batch is ready. This helped me, plus fixing the knob softly. It does not have the function to keep the Upper Rail in place, it just closes the rotator to different stops inside.

Everybody is so used to cranking down on a knob in order to secure the upper arm. All you need to do is tighten the knob finger tight. There are slots inside the rotator where keys slide into that secure the upper arm. That is why you get a grinding effect if you do not loosen the knob up enough for the spring to push the rotator away from the base. Until I took the upper rotator apart to see how it works I was guilty of over tightening the knob.

Nick already explained the problem on Thread of 6-1-2012. Because some of the users fixed the knob very hard, the plastic metal connection of knob and metal thread insert to knob broke. Mine broke after using it around nearly thousand times of use. New rotators are designed different to those of example the NN3 Upper Rotators. NN3 Upper Rotator uses "rubber washers" to keep upper rail in place. The new M1 Upper Rotator uses an mechanical design to keep the upper rail in place. You may compare this with your hands moving your fingers into the gaps of the opposite hand. At the real end of the gap the fingers will be fixed . So the knob is used to move your fingers to the real end of the gap. No hard force added by the knob is needed to keep your fingers in place. Just to move the fingers to the end of the gap. The torque which is added to the system to upper rail, plus camera etc, is kept by the "fingers" inside the rotator. Not by the strength of tightening the knob to washers used for example with NN3. But this model is not designed for heavy equipment.

We as users have to learn about Nick's ongoing development of design. Because he listens. And now the upper rotator knob just has to be fixed softly. Because the torque is taken of parts inside the new rotator. Just a question of open up, move to next click and close the rotator. Inside construction will do the rest.

I try to explain the problem cause I think you are not the only one with this question

Not a problem, Nick. I did not ask when it was shipping, just what the fix was...

You know sometimes people doing the job do not always follow the instruction.
So my staff change the proven design of knob for their convenience and that results in weaker holding force of plastic to the metal core.